In the 1980’s and into the 1990’s, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers defined and completely revived the NBA.
The primary stars of that rivalry, of course, were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, but both teams were full of great players. L.A. had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and others, while Boston also featured Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. All of these players are in the Hall of Fame.
But there were more great players on those teams, including Michael Cooper for L.A., and the late Dennis Johnson for Boston.
In this video, Dee Brown, who joined the Celtics in 1990, talks about his teammate, Dennis Johnson, and tells Cooper something he never would have imagined.
Johnson, he explains, counted opponents dribbles, and watched how they dribbled when they were relaxed and under stress. Basically, he was applying his own form of analytics to opposing ball handlers.
Cooper marvels at this, and says that it explains why Johnson – who Bird called his favorite teammate ever – was constantly getting steals in the fourth quarter.
It’s a level of basketball intellect that, until Brown revealed it, no one knew about Johnson.
Cooper, still amazed, says that even at 70, he’s still learning things about the game that surprise him.
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